Mike Bennett writesFriday iPod/MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Kanye West Edition

One of the biggest artists to come out of Chicago is turning one year older today. Kanye West first made his mark as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records. He manned the boards for Jay-Z’s The Blueprint, most significantly. He eventually put out his own stuff, and all of his albums have been critically lauded and best sellers. Kanye has been behind some big hits, but deserves credit for expanding the scope of his music, whether it involves collaborating with Bon Iver or sampling King Crimson. Beyond that, he has assisted many artists and is a fixture in the gossip pages for his unfiltered comments and visible lifestyle. So let’s wish Kanye a happy birthday by hitting shuffle and sharing the first 10 songs that come up on your iPod or MP3 player. 

1. The Who — A Quick One While He’s Away (A Quick One): Legend has it that The Who’s managers, who produced some of their early records, suggested to Pete Townshend that in order to fill about 10 minutes on the second Who album, he should construct a suite of songs into a mini-opera. This track is the result. In lesser hands, this could have been a disaster, but Townshend crafted a simple story of a young woman whose man is away and succumbs to temptation, and then put together a string of sort sections that cover various styles and show off the many facets of the band. He brings it to a climax with the stunning “You Are Forgiven” section that closes the track. This is a very significant song in rock history and it planted the seeds for Tommy and Quadrophenia.
2. The Easybeats — I Can’t Stand It (The Definitive Anthology): Like many of the beat groups of the era, The Easybeats had a great R & B inspired singer in lead vocalist Stevie Wright. This is a great slice of Motown with a driving rhythm, and nice backing vocals.
3. Franz Ferdinand — Eleanor Put Your Boots On (You Could Have It So Much Better): Taking a break from their post-punk dance tunes, this is somewhat of an orch-pop nugget from Franz Ferdinand. Singer Alex Kapronos is singing to his lady at the time, Eleanor Friedberger of Fiery Furnaces. While this track doesn’t really play to the band’s strengths, it’s an endearing change of pace track.
4. Outkast — Prototype (The Love Below/Speakerboxx): From the Andre 3000 half of this Outkast 2-disc set, this is Andre going into Prince/Earth, Wind & Fire ballad territory. This song is a bit long at 5 minutes, but other than that, it’s a pretty pleasant soft R & B love song.
5. George Clinton — Nubian Nut (Greatest Hits): George Clinton put out a lot of good funk in the early to mid-‘80s, maintaining principles that he established in Parliament and Funkadelic, but with a bit of a more contemporary funk sheen. That being said, the music was never overly slick and had touches that clearly stamped the music as his. This groove is augmented by some great backing vocals while Clinton tries to rap a bit.
6. The Fall — No Bulbs (The Wonderful & Frightening World Of The Fall): A prime example of the more accessible approach of The Fall in the mid-‘80s after Brix Smith joined the band. The basic structure of the song is still Mark E. Smith’s somewhat off-beat take on rockabilly. But what’s added is Brix’s jangly guitar counterpoints and the downright playful chorus. One of the best tunes on a great album.
7. The Jam — That’s Entertainment (Sound Affects): One of the most classic Jam songs of all-time. Paul Weller was on a real literary bent, and the lyrics on this track were inspired by some author with whom I’m not fully familiar. But that’s why he includes phrases like “the tranquility of solitude.” This song has such a brooding intensity and is a testament to the power of simple composition, smart lyrics and intent performance.
8. Richard X. Heyman — Thought I’d Seen Everything (Hey Man!): Another slice of energetic strummy power pop from Heyman’s second album. This was also his final major label effort, as this fits the ‘critics love it, didn’t sell’ model to a T.
9. Buck Owens — Close All The Honky Tonks (The Buck Owens Collection): This is a weepy honky tonk tune, with more emphasis on the pedal steel than the lead guitar, which is less typical for Buck. He is so good at sounding forlorn.
10. John Hiatt — Falling Up (Riding With The King): This is my favorite John Hiatt release, when he was still aiming for some sort of pop audience. This album contained one side produced by Scott Mathews and Ron Nagel of Durocs and one side produced by Nick Lowe. Both sides are full of music that falls somewhere between Elvis Costello and Americana. This track has a vibrant Bo Diddley beat.